| A Pearson Digital Learning
Success
Story
Houston County Career and Technology
Center
Houston County School District
Warner Robins, Georgia
(Pearson Digital Learning
NovaNet)
“Pearson Digital Learning
NovaNET
is the perfect vehicle for a competency-based education. It is very challenging
academically, and the kids really learn.”
— Danny
Carpenter, Director, Houston County Career and Technology Center
Highlights
-
Houston County Career and Technology
Center has met or surpassed both district and state averages on the 2002
Georgia High School Graduation Test using Pearson Digital Learning
NovaNET.
-
By progressing through NovaNET
at their own pace, students who had been experiencing difficulties are
now graduating on time.
School District Profile
Houston County Career and
Technology Center (HCCTC) is a school of choice located in the city of
Warner Robins, in central Georgia. The center, which opened three years
ago, was developed for young people who were not successful in a traditional
school setting, and to provide a pathway for students to either enter technical
college or secure a position as a semi-skilled or skilled technician. Students
attending the center must apply and appear for an interview before registering.
The school serves students in grades 9 through 12 and enrolls 100 students.
 HCCTC,
in collaboration with Middle Georgia Technical College, offers technology
courses in metals, automotive, cosmetology, integrated information systems,
and construction. Students successfully passing these courses earn high
school credit, college credit, and technical certificates of credit. The
center also provides courses in food service, childcare, and business.
The Houston County Board
of Education showed its support and endorsement of the Tech/Prep program
of study by passing a local policy requiring all junior Tech/Prep students
to take the ASSET test in February of each year. The ASSET test is an admissions
requirement for students entering technical colleges across the country.
Challenge
The challenge at HCCTC
is to provide an alternative high school environment that affords students
the opportunity to participate in a competency-based instructional atmosphere
in which they are not required to do seat-time in the core classes-math,
English, science, and social studies.
Solution
Houston County Career and
Technology Center implemented 60 stations of Pearson Digital Learning
NovaNET computer-based
online learning system in August 1999. Core classes are taught through
NovaNET, which has been correlated to the Georgia QCC (Quality Core Curriculum).
Teri McCoy, a teacher at
Houston County Career and Technical Center says, “It’s a joy to help students
master the lessons in NovaNET. They are able to quickly accelerate through
the material they understand, and remediation is self-paced.”
Students at the career
center fall into one of two categories: 1) full-time students who take
core classes through NovaNET and have access to the technical offerings,
and 2) part-time students who are transported from the other four high
schools in the county for two-hour blocks to take the career center’s technical
college classes.
 Students
using NovaNET take control of their own progress, and according to one
teacher, “They can move through the material at their own pace, which often
seems to accelerate when they realize that they are at the controls.”
According to one student,
“NovaNET has helped me by presenting difficult material in a way that I
can understand.”
A seat time waiver was obtained
from the Georgia Department of Education to accommodate self-paced learning
in math, science, English, and social studies. To graduate, students must
have 22 units of credit and pass all Georgia High School Graduation Tests.
Results
In the spring of 2002,
the full-time students in the 11th grade at HCCTC were tested for graduation.
The results showed students meeting or exceeding the overall average in
the district and the state. All full time students taking the GHSGT (Georgia
High School Graduation Tests) are considered “at risk” students, and they
passed the test in most subject areas.
 |
The
full-time 11th grade students at HCCTC met or exceeded
the overall average
in the district and the state on the 2002
Georgia High School
Graduation Team.
|
“With NovaNET, many of
our students are able to make up for past mistakes and graduate on time,”
says Teri McCoy.
 |
From
2001 to 2002, full-time 11th grade students made
dramatic increases on
the Georgia High School Graduation Tests.
|
The Houston County Career
and Technology Center has had the privilege of offering students their
own path to reach success. With the input of parents, staff, businesses,
and the community, the school is striving to meet the needs of all students.
Teri McCoy is one such teacher devoted to student success. She says, “NovaNET
helps students make the connection between the amount of effort they put
into school and the results that they achieve. Understanding this direct
correlation will hopefully make them more successful in their chosen careers.”
For more information on
how Pearson Digital Learning can help you achieve results, visit
http://www.pearsonedtech.com
or call 888/627-5327; Canada and other international locations: 800/400-6192.
About
Pearson Digital Learning
Headquartered in Mesa, Arizona, Pearson Digital Learning is a business of Pearson Education, global leader in integrated educational publishing. Pearson Education is a part of Pearson plc, whose primary operations also include the Financial Times Group and the Penguin Group.
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